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"Saudi Arabia is considering selling as much as $15 billion of bonds this year in what would be the country’s first foray into international capital markets, people with knowledge of a matter said.

Encouraged by Qatar’s record issue last week, Saudi Arabia is weighing a sale of at least $10 billion in five-, 10- and 30-year bonds after Ramadan ends in July, the people said. No final decision has been made and the discussions are still at a preliminary stage, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private.
Governments in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes the two-biggest Arab economies of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are turning to public markets after the plunge in oil prices punched holes in their budgets. Qatar last week attracted $23 billion in orders for its $9 billion sale, the biggest-ever from the Middle East. Abu Dhabi raised $5 billion from the sale of five- and 10-year securities in April, while Dubai is also said to be preparing an international bond sale this year."

"Lower oil prices will constrain the amount of funding available to GCC governments to finance capital and infrastructure projects which will force them to look at alternate solutions according to audit, consulting and financial advisory firm Deloitte.

“Spending in the region will need to be better prioritised in order to ensure it meets social and economic development. Governments will have to seek for the private sector involvement, innovate and find alternative funding sources to fund their project requirements,” said Cynthia Corby, Audit partner and Middle East Infrastructure and Capital Projects leader at Deloitte.

Shrinking banking sector liquidity and rising funding costs are expected to increase cost of bank funding for projects across the GCC. Overall bank liquidity in the Gulf region started to weaken visibly from the second half of 2015, and the trend is expected to continue this year."

"A rebound in Saudi Arabian petrochemical shares helped lift the index in early trade on Tuesday, while other Gulf bourses were weak.

Saudi's Yanbu National Petrochemicals (Yansab), a large cap petrochemical producer, jumped 5.2 percent after the company announced late on Monday that its board recommended a cash distribution of 1.5 riyals per share for the first half of the year, higher than the 1.0 riyals per share for first half of 2015. The total dividends in 2015 and 2014 were 2.0 and 3.0 riyals respectively.

"We expect the company to pay a dividend of 2.5 riyals per share in 2016E, and based on this the dividend yield is expected to be 6.3 percent," said a note by Saudi firm NCB Capital."

It was July 1974. A steady predawn drizzle had given way to overcast skies when William Simon, newly appointed U.S. Treasury secretary, and his deputy, Gerry Parsky, stepped onto an 8 a.m. flight from Andrews Air Force Base. On board, the mood was tense. That year, the oil crisis had hit home. An embargo by OPEC’s Arab nations—payback for U.S. military aid to the Israelis during the Yom Kippur War—quadrupled oil prices. Inflation soared, the stock market crashed, and the U.S. economy was in a tailspin.

Officially, Simon’s two-week trip was billed as a tour of economic diplomacy across Europe and the Middle East, full of the customary meet-and-greets and evening banquets. But the real mission, kept in strict confidence within President Richard Nixon’s inner circle, would take place during a four-day layover in the coastal city of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

"Qatar’s $9 billion offering last week propelled monthly foreign bond sales in the Middle East to the highest on record at $13.8 billion as borrowers rush to raise money before the U.S. increases interest rates. DP World Ltd. and Etihad Airways were among other issuers in the week. Governments in the world’s largest oil-producing region have been looking to sell bonds to help plug holes in budget deficits after the slump in crude prices cut revenue."